yielded fantastic results.
On Monday Lech Walesa, Shipyard workers, signed the Gdansk Pact which included: * Full recognition for a free trade union the Gdansk region and the right to strike. * The right for trade union journals to publish whatever they choose and a liberalisation of the censorship laws. * The release of the 25 leading dissidents who were arrested earlier during the strike, cluding the leading figure in the KOR, Jacek Kuron. * Pay increases De enced sed toman er CINCO LOw prices, and improved housing programmes are plannea. Meal rationing will be looked into.
The Polish government has declared will speed economic retorms. decentralise management, and ensure that a national debate takes place on the question Women with babies will be allowed to stay home for three years with full compensation.
ed to the level of the army Retirement pensions will be increased. * No victimisaton of strikers workers victimised previous strikes gain ble The cuesto conmemorate plaque commemorate workers killed in the 1970 riot at the Szcecin shipyard.
Speakers: Tessa Van Workers throughout the world will be inspired by the victory of the Polish workers. 18-day general strike in the Baltic ports has In Szcecin, a similar has been signed union nas less room Iol manoeuvre than in Gdansk.
In Silesia, a region of the country Gierek is Juugca lo ticularly high, nave en corn independent unions and higher standarus or salely I lue pits The strikers recognise the Communist Party as 'the leading force in Poland' in- and 'not to cuestion the exalliances But strike been Lech Walesa urged workers not worry about respect the role of the ComJOWC munist Party. have formed unions ourselves,' he told the 1,000 delegates listening to the up negotiations shipyards 'If you them, as I am, then you can be SUIC WOlI anybody else to have a leading role inside them' But there between the free trade and the Polish Communist Party in the future. economy is only efficient when the workers themselves decide uni cconomic proriucs.
To decide these priorities, hands of the leaders Polish Communist placed in the hands workers. Inis is the only permanent solution workers of Poland today.
IMG/Revolution Youth Gelderen (IMG), Sonya Martyniak (Revolution Youth), and Oliver Macdonald (Editor, Labour Focus on Eastern Europe).
Friday 5 September 7.30pm, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1.
Their pact although the support for par30,000 miners agreed of international leader having these Lenin will be conflicts A planned of the Party and of the facing the tee discusses the next move in the struggle. ABOVE: Strike leader Lech Walesa chaired around the shipyard. BELOW: Strike committheir the the be mand.
tion.' EYEWITNESS:
From Jean-Yves Touvais in Gdansk waits with calm confidence in their strength, unity, their rights. There are tens of thousands of people gathered around the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk. In many cases the whole family has come.
They listen the loudspeakers broadcasting the discussions inside the factory. They bring money or food for bags filled with Ine surkers, potatoes or tomatoes. They go the which are covered with flowers and embrace each other. Eager The children are there too;
huge crowas stretching round this immense shipyard are all waiting for the government to meet the demands of 300,000 strikers in the region.
Everyone is eager for information. Now and then sothrows bunch of leaflets in the air and there is a mad rush for them. But soon everything is calm again In fact everybody will get a chance to read these precious leaflets as they are passed from hand to hand, crumpled and badly printed though they may the yard only has one printing machine whose limit is a few hundred copies.
Since Saturday (23 August) the strike committee's bulletin has come out daily. In its first issue the committee (the MKS) explains: We know • unal une government is doing everything to isolate us. It tries to cover up our strike. It wants to block solidarity. It says that we are anti-socialist elements, . that our strike is political. What we want is to discuss the economic problems, to win our rights. We aren't against the regime.' Watchful The tone is moderate. But very quickly one gathers that these words lag behind present consciousness.
one MKS delegate explained to me: "The free trade union is for us the first deThen the political prisoners, and all our rights. It Isn't a simple economic ques People can't go in and out at will. Only factory delegations and journalists can cross the threshold. The strike committees are watchful. After a series of checks, each visitor receives a pass. This allows frer movement inside the factory. . Continued on page 3
British Communist Party's
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PUBLIC MEETING What is happening in Poland today?
'WE ARE going to win!' Everyone